“So is it like… heavy concentration?”
Cadrian shook her head. “It’s more than that,” she said. “Once a gem holder can first focus their will into a proper, effective spell, we call their level ‘Baseline’, but it’s more of a starting point, than anything. Entering a Trance is the beginning of a conversation with the elements. And reaching Ascension… is far beyond even that.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” said Hal.
“It isn’t a spectrum,” said Cadrian. “Baseline is just a normal resting state, but once you enter a Trance, there are certain… changes. Progressing into the higher states is a bit like shifting into a different form of being.”
Hal still wasn’t sure he fully understood what she meant, but he nodded, considering his next question.
“And what level can you reach?” he asked. “Is it appropriate for me to ask?”
Cadrian smiled.
“I am a multimage,” said Cadrian. “A title given to those who focus on more than one color of gem. I’m only at Baseline with topaz, and but I can reach a Ruby Trance.”
She held her hand out to him, flashing the gems on her fingers. Hal’s curiosity was almost overwhelming. He’d seen her cast only a single fire spell before, and was eager to see what she could do when she was really trying, in a real fight.
The forest had grown dark, and Hal realized for the first time that it was late in the afternoon. Cadrian seemed to sense the hour then, as well. She collected the wooden swords and placed them back into her bag, slowly tying it closed.
“That’s enough for today,” she said. “Let’s head back to the homestead.”
CHAPTER 22
Cadrian was silent as Hal followed her back down the slope. He didn’t bother trying to make conversation, as she’d given him more than enough to think about already.
For the first time since being carried off by a dragon and dropped on the edge of the desert, Hal felt as though he had agency again. The idea of getting revenge against the dragon didn’t seem quite as distant, and there were steps he could take to prepare himself to face it.
Though, if he wanted to stand any chance, he would need to master at least the basics of what Cadrian had explained of gem magic. He would need to reach Baseline, which would allow him to cast his thesis spell and hopefully develop a defensive technique to counter the dragon’s flames.
And then what? Will I run at it and punch it with my fists? I don’t even have a weapon yet, outside of my pistol…
The homestead came into view as they exited the trees at the bottom of the slope. Laurel was on her knees in her garden, pulling up vegetables for dinner. Hal was surprised to see that she was still wearing the dress she’d had on that morning. She smiled at him and Cadrian as she stood up and wiped her hands off on her butt.
“Good timing,” said Laurel. “I was just about to start dinner. Will you be staying to join us, Cadrian? I can set a pallet out for you, too, if you’d like to stay the night.”
“Let us speak privately for a moment,” Cadrian said. “Just you and I, Laurel. There are things you should know.”
Hal felt a little uncomfortable at her tone of voice, and from Laurel’s reaction, so did she. He waited on the grass as the two women disappeared into the homestead, feeling more than a little awkward.
He cleaned the dirt off some of the root vegetables Laurel had picked while he waited. Several minutes later, she emerged from the homestead, Cadrian following a few steps behind her. Hal smiled at Laurel, and she gave him an odd look in return that made him feel uncomfortable.
“I can handle those,” she said, taking the vegetables he’d been washing.
The three of them headed into the homestead. Hal brought the cooking pot out to the stream to fill it with freshwater. When he came back, he could tell that whatever had been discussed before in private was still hanging over the air. Laurel looked tense and uncomfortable. Cadrian was her usual stoic self, but her expression was distant, and focused inward.
“So…” said Hal, scratching the back of his head. “How was your day, Laurel?”
“Fine,” she said, voice curt. “I spent most of it doing chores. How was your day, Hal? Did you have lots of fun?”
Hal felt as though he’d accidentally stepped on a wasp’s nest. He picked his words carefully, wondering what had passed between Cadrian and Laurel to sour her mood so completely.
“I learned a lot,” he said. “Cadrian is a very capable teacher.”
“Of that, I’m sure,” said Laurel.
She focused her attention on the food, opting to cook the vegetables dry instead of putting them into a soup. Hal made small talk with Cadrian about the weather and what wild game could be found in the area, if he was ever interested in trapping or hunting fresh meat. Their conversation shifted back to the sand bear as Laurel began serving the food.
“You might consider eventually building a wall around your homestead, Laurel,” said Cadrian. “Perhaps even bringing on a guard or two. The dragon isn’t the only threat to your estate.”
“My brother’s estate, you mean,” said Laurel, stiffly. “It would be his decision, not mine. I follow his directions and his rules under this roof, and so do all of my guests.”
Hal focused his attention down on his food, wincing at the friction between the two women.
“I’m sure Willum would want what’s best for you, especially where your safety was concerned,” said Cadrian. “I was his friend, as I’m sure you recall.”
Laurel’s hand slapped down hard on the table. Hal glanced up at her in surprise. Her face was a mask of anger, her eyebrows slanted, lips taut. It was almost a cute expression on her face, if not for the intensity of the emotion in her eyes.
“You were,” she said. “I remember. And he was also a ruby gem holder, like Hal.”
“Laurel, it wasn’t ever like that with him,” said Cadrian.
“And you keep talking about him in the past tense!” snapped Laurel. “He isn’t here, but that doesn’t mean he’s dead! Don’t make assumptions like that, not at my dinner table!”
Cadrian didn’t say anything. The tension in the room was a thick blanket over all of them. Hal waited, listening to Laurel’s heavy, angry breathing, until it became too much for him to endure. He cleared his throat.
“Why don’t we open a bottle of wine?” he suggested. “Or maybe three?”
Miraculously, the suggestion seemed to bring the dinner back around. They drank the first bottle of wine in silence, each of them downing their goblets in record time. Hal opened a second, and by the time they were nearing the end of that bottle, Laurel had calmed enough to talk normally with him again.
“I tried my spell again,” said Hal.
“Did it work?” she asked.
He smiled and held out his hand for her inspection. Laurel prodded at a spot of tender, shiny skin and he let out a gasp of pain.
“You did that on purpose!” he said.
Laurel stuck out her tongue at him.
“Maybe,” she said. “But you deserve it.”
Hal was afraid to ask why, exactly he deserved it, so instead he shifted to talking about dinner. Laurel mentioned a few spices she was running low on, and Cadrian offered to ask Koda and Meridon for some when she went back to town. It was a peace offering, if Hal had ever seen one, and Laurel accepted it graciously.
“I should get going,” said Cadrian, as the meal drew to a close. “It’s a long ride back to Lorne.”
Hal half expected Laurel to invite Cadrian to stay the night again, but no such offer came. He waited, only realizing that both women were waiting for him to say something after a couple of seconds.
“Oh,” he said. “Why don’t I… walk you to your steed?”
It’s the polite thing to do isn’t it? Why is Laurel giving me that look?
He left the homestead with Cadrian and walked across the grass to stables. Cadrian had ridden in on one of the blond haired, furry creatures, rather than a proper hor
se like Toothy. She stood next to the stall for a moment, turning to face Hal, her features shrouded in the shadow of night.
“What happened between the two of you?” asked Hal.
Cadrian didn’t say anything.
“Is it really fair for you to not answer my question?” he continued. “I’m the one staying with her. I’m the one who will have to endure her anger.”
“And you’re the one who should speak to her on the matter,” said Cadrian. “It is an issue, yes, but one unrelated to your apprenticeship.”
Hal scowled. He was about to say more, his frustration pushing him to give her a piece of his mind, when Cadrian drew closer to him. Before he knew what was happening, she’d pressed both her lips and her body against him.
The kiss was overpowering. It reminded Hal of how Cadrian had dominated him in their sparring, or when he’d first met her and been surprised by her dagger at his neck. She knew exactly what to do with her lips and tongue, and her hands roamed across his back, and then around to his crotch.
“Would you take me, right here and now, if I allowed you to?” whispered Cadrian, as their mouths parted. Hal stared at her, dumbfounded.
“…What?” He shook his head in confusion.
“Would you be the aggressor, Hal?” Her hand ran across his quickly hardening bulge, teasing and caressing. “What if the situation was different? If I were a flirtatious tavern girl, and you were given a moment of privacy and opportunity?”
Hal still had trouble finding his tongue and an appropriate answer. Cadrian kissed him again, her tongue pushing deliberately into his mouth. She raised one of her thighs and pushed her crotch against his, grinding into him.
“You must learn this on your own, Halrin,” she whispered. “I can only show you the path. I cannot force you to walk it. You must learn to live on the edge of your emotions, and choose when and where to give into your impulses.”
Hal kissed her back, feeling his lust overpower any hang-ups he might have had. He pushed her into the stables, ignoring the smell of the stalls and instead focusing on her musky, feminine scent. His hands roamed over Cadrian’s big breasts. She leaned her head back and he kissed her neck, feeling his momentum building.
He pushed Cadrian against one of the stable walls. She grabbed him roughly by the shirt and pulled him in close to her. They kissed again, and then she turned around, sticking her butt out toward him and spreading her legs.
Hal reached to undo her pants, and suddenly, she was slipping away from him. He saw her climb up onto her mount and urge it out of the stables. The starlight caught her features for a moment, and Hal saw the mischievous grin on her face.
“Not bad, Halrin,” she said. “But you still have much to learn.”
And with those parting words, she was off. Hal watched her ride away, his expression dumbfounded, feeling about as disappointed as he’d ever felt. He gave himself a couple of minutes to calm down and then headed back inside.
CHAPTER 23
Laurel was waiting for him, standing next to the hearth, arms crossed and expression dark. Hal felt the intensity of her emotions, but still couldn’t fathom what had passed between the two women to trigger them.
“Is she gone?” asked Laurel. “I expected the two of you would take your time with your goodbye.”
Hal nodded. He spent a couple of seconds considering Laurel’s position. He’d grown close to her over the past few days, and there was no denying that they’d shared a lot emotionally. Was it possible that she was jealous of Hal’s new connection to Cadrian?
That’s ridiculous… Or is it?
Hal was about to make an attempt at explaining himself and the focus of his new training, but Laurel spoke first.
“Cadrian told me,” said Laurel. “She was upfront about it. I know what the two of you were doing.”
“Laurel…” Hal sighed, hating the direction he suspected the conversation to be heading in. “This is something I have to do, and have to learn. I don’t have a choice.”
“Are you that daft?” shouted Laurel. “Of course you have a choice! This is heresy, Hal!”
Hal stared at her, confused by the last thing she’d said.
“…Heresy?” he said.
“Heresy,” repeated Laurel. “The Temple of Lyris has doctrines against gem holders giving in to their base emotions to advance their magic. If the Keeper or any of her followers got word of what the two of you were doing, you’d be apprehended and probably executed.”
Hal was so caught off guard by her train of thought that he couldn’t think of anything to say back to her.
“You’re my friend, Hal,” said Laurel. “And you’re an outsider here. You can be forgiven for not knowing these things, but for Cadrian to take advantage of you like that just makes me so mad!”
She had her wine goblet in hand, and took a long sip from it. Hal sat down at the table, tapping his fingers on the polished wood and considering what she was telling him.
“Alright,” he said. “So what would you have me do? Am I supposed to give up my training out of fear?”
Laurel gave a small shrug.
“It’s up to you,” she said. “If you wanted to… you could stay here, you know. I could use the extra help around the homestead. And Cadrian did have a point when she brought up the threats I face other than the dragon.”
The offer was more tempting than Hal expected it to be. Laurel was a good person, in a situation not that unlike his own, with her missing brother. They could help each other, and Hal could start his life over again, settling into a comfortable routine.
And just like before, the dragon could show up and take it all away from me. It could kill Laurel as easily as it killed Lilith, and make me a pathetic fool twice over.
“You told me that living in the Fool’s Valley was a death sentence,” said Hal. “And you know it’s the truth as well as I do. But if I managed to do it, Laurel. If I killed the dragon… think of what that would mean for you.”
“And if you died trying?” asked Laurel. “What do you think that would mean for me, Hal? Do you think I’d be able to just shrug off your death?”
Laurel’s expression held more than just concern. She stared at him, and Hal met her gaze. The conversation took place as much in that moment of intense eye contact as it did through words.
“I’m not going to die,” said Hal. “Trust me, Laurel. I need you… to believe that I can do this.”
His heart pounded in his chest. He wasn’t speaking hypothetically, he realized. He truly needed someone to believe in him, because at that moment, he wasn’t sure how much he believed in himself. He pictured the dragon looming over him, remembered the feeling of its claws digging into his chest. Laurel let out a sigh, and gave him a defeated smile.
“I believe in you, Hal,” she said. “But I’m still of the opinion that you need to be far, far more careful if you and Cadrian plan on carrying on as you are. You mustn’t let anyone else know about her… unorthodox methods.”
Hal grinned.
“Of course,” he said. “It will be our little secret.”
Laurel gave him a long hug before bed that night. Her small body was so different from Cadrian’s, but she expressed her emotions so much more freely and vividly than the older woman. Hal ran a hand through his hair, wondering how the two of them had become so close, so fast. Perhaps they were both wounded in the same way, and the pull was each of them recognizing the damage in the other.
“Goodnight, Hal,” whispered Laurel.
“Goodnight.”
He didn’t fall sleep right away. He was amazed that he still had energy left over, after all of the training Cadrian had put him through. The bed felt small and stifling, so Hal rose and headed outside, stepping quietly to keep from waking Laurel.
Hal walked across the grass in front of the homestead. He thought about what Laurel had offered him. The Fool’s Valley, outside of its close proximity to the dragon’s roost, was a beautiful area. It might even have been more be
autiful than his family’s estate back in Cardvale.
And what of Laurel? Have I already begun comparing her to Lilith, imagining how she’ll take my sister’s place?
He scowled, fidgeting with the gemstone around his neck as he tried to sort through his thoughts. It had turned clear earlier in the day, after showing Cadrian his spell, but had regained its red hue since then.
Hal was still deep in thought when a massive, air trembling roar came from high up in the mountains. He watched as the dragon, his quarry and nemesis, took to the air, breathing out a burst of fire as it spread its wings across the stars. It flew off to the east, vanishing from sight after a minute.
He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he considered the opportunity he’d been presented. He’d been able to get a good look at where it had taken off from. It was high up on the mountain, probably further than he could travel in a day, let alone a night.
But if he wanted to, he could climb back up to where he and Cadrian had trained earlier in the day and see if he could get a better look at the area. He could even go a little past there, and maybe get a better sense of the terrain he’d eventually be challenging the monster to battle on.
Hal was moving before he’d taken more than a few seconds to consider it. The sky had been overcast earlier in the day, but it was clear now, and the ambient starlight was enough for him to see by even as he passed into the trees.
It was still a difficult hike, with the steepness of the slope partnering with the loose soil to make him lose his footing a couple of times. He went slowly, even as his heart pounded in his chest, a constant reminder of the fact that the dragon could be back at any second.
He reached the clearing, but there was no good view of the dragon’s roost. Hal continued on for a couple of minutes, the slope eventually becoming so steep that only by grabbing onto tree trunks and branches was he able to make forward progress.
Finally, the ground leveled out again, and the trees cleared. The ground was harder underneath his boots, the soil washed away without protective foliage overhead. It was a mid sized ridge, marking the point at which the terrain became difficult even for plants and trees to grow. And Hal wasn’t alone on it.
Heartgem Homestead Page 13
